Tuscany

The second stop on our trip was Florence. I would probably have to say that of the three cities we visited (Rome and Venice being the other two), Florence was my favorite. All three were of course beautiful and very interesting, but there was just something about Florence that I especially liked. I felt a little more comfortable there, like it was a place where I could actually live. Maybe that's because it was also the most similar to Germany, at least in my opinion.

Whereas Rome was full of a lot of ancient history, Florence was a "newer" old, more medieval and Renaissance. The one thing I did not enjoy about Florence: the Uffizi Gallery. I can hear a collective gasp from the art buffs, so let me explain: in my opinion it was not worth the ridiculously long amount of time spent waiting in line (we actually waited longer at the Uffizi Gallery than at the Vatican Museums, but those were totally worth the wait). The Uffizi Gallery just didn't impress me so much, maybe because Renaissance art isn't my favorite era, or maybe because a significant section of the museum was under renovation. Also, waiting for the gallery totally burned us out on waiting in line, so we decided not to wait to get into the museum that houses the David statue, which I think I probably would have enjoyed more. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go there again, shucks!


Walking around the first evening



Getting slightly lost the first evening


Ponte Vecchio at night


Piazza della Republica I think


Fortezza di Basso and Piazza della Repubblica in the day


Duomo


possibly the greatest t-shirt ever (and so true); inside the amazing San Lorenzo market


Ponte Vecchio as seen from the Uffizi Gallery


At the Uffizi




One of the days Pascal and I were in Florence we took an afternoon trip to San Gimignano, a village about an hour and a half southwest of Florence, in Tuscany. This village is famous for its medieval towers, which cause some people to call it the "Manhattan" of medieval Italy. It was a really interesting town with breathtaking views of the Tuscan countryside, but it was also a total tourist trap, because it basically survives on tourism revenues. It did, however, have THE best gelato that we had on the entire trip. The strawberry flavor was amazing; it tasted like somebody just transfigured the texture of a strawberry, aka no overly-sweet fake strawberry flavor. And when you put that with the Panna Cotta flavor.....(I ate it twice in the one afternoon we were there. Hey, you only live once). We also bought some typically Tuscan products while we were there, like olive tapenade, pecorino cheese, salami, and the locally-produced white wine, and then the next night had ourselves a nice little picnic in the park. Delicious.










the pictures don't even begin to show how absolutely stunning the view was


I love Tuscany!